Athena’s delicate brows knitted together as irritation clouded her eyes. She felt a burning pressure building in her chest, ready to explode.

She rose gracefully and headed toward her residence. "Trina, send them away. Tell them I'm not receiving visitors."

Athena thought to herself, "Grandfather is still under criminal charges. If I’m seen here, it could land me in hot water!"

She slipped out of the hidden tunnel and instructed Trina to conceal the entrance. A pile of clutter was stacked at the entrance, making it inconspicuous.

Trina bit her lip, concern for Athena clear in her eyes as she said, "Lady Eloise insists she only wants to see you for a moment, and then she’ll leave. She also said she brought you something."

With her face betraying no emotion, Athena walked along the low wall toward the courtyard and said coldly, "Tell her to take whatever she brought back."

Athena wanted no further entanglement with the Monson family. Refusing to see them was clearly the wisest choice.

She wondered, "Why does Eloise keep pestering me? Seriously, can’t she just live her own life?"

"I already told them you wouldn’t see them," Trina said impatiently, "but Lady Eloise and Willow are still standing at the gate, refusing to leave. If this drags on and draws a crowd, it’ll only reflect poorly on you."

Athena fumed inwardly, "That Willow is like a shadow that just won’t go away. Anywhere she shows up, she makes my skin crawl."

Her steps faltered, her icy gaze locking onto Trina. "That Willow dares to show her face here?"

Trina shuddered under Athena’s icy gaze, then quickly realized the hostility wasn’t aimed at her, but at Willow.

She looked at Athena with protective concern, grabbing the broom from the corner and clenching it tightly in her hands. "Let me drive them away," she said resolutely.

Athena quickly snatched the broom from Trina’s hands with a resigned look. She sighed, "Listen, no matter how much I can’t stand them, it’s not worth you risking your life over this."

Trina was just a maid; her lowly status meant she could easily lose her life.

At the gate, the hems of Eloise and Willow’s gowns were faintly visible.

Athena threw the broom to the ground and said to Trina, "If they’re determined to wait, let them. We’re going inside."

Just then, Willow’s shrill voice pierced the quiet night. "Sister, please, I’m begging you, just come out and see Mother. We truly came to make amends with you, sister…"

Willow’s shrill voice pierced the silent night, impossible to ignore.

Trina gritted her teeth in anger. "How shameless! If she keeps screaming like that, how is anyone supposed to get any sleep?"

Just then, Marquita emerged with a bucket of water and flung it toward the gate. They expected the visitors to get drenched, but to their surprise, an umbrella appeared just in time.

Startled, Willow stumbled and landed hard on the ground. She looked up at the man before her, eyes wide with surprise and delight. "Michael? Is that really you?" she breathed, her voice trembling with excitement.

Michael folded his umbrella and reached out to help Willow to her feet, then shot a displeased look toward the courtyard.

Michael shrugged casually. "Just happened to be in the neighborhood, that’s all."

Willow’s eyes fell on the two jars of premium plum wine in his hands. They were Athena’s favorite drink.

These plum wines were handcrafted by Michael himself. He’d never give it to anyone else. Yet on Christmas Eve, he specifically came to see Athena with plum wine in hand, only to claim he was just passing by.

Willow gazed at Michael with wounded eyes, her eyelids rimmed pink with unshed tears.

She thought, "I’m his fiancée, shouldn’t I be the one with Michael on Christmas Eve? Why is he still coming to see Athena? I’m his fiancée, shouldn’t he be with me instead?"

Eloise rushed over in a panic, her heart aching as she looked at Willow. "Sweetheart, did you get wet? Are you alright?"

Willow shook her head, her eyes red-rimmed. "Thank goodness Michael showed up just in time," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

Eloise let out a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness Michael showed up. If you’d gotten soaked, you could’ve caught a chill."

Eloise glared at the courtyard, her voice sharp with anger. "I know you’re in there. Even if you don’t want to see us, that’s no excuse to throw dirty water at people!"

Needless to say, Eloise was addressing Athena.

Marquita instinctively looked at Athena and noticed that her face was slightly pale. Though Athena had severed ties with the Monson family, their persistent pestering couldn’t help but aggravate her.

Marquita opened the main gate and stepped outside, offering Eloise a perfunctory curtsy. With a hint of sarcasm, she said, "Please forgive me, Lady Eloise. I may have been out of line. I just heard some stray cats in heat making a racket outside. It was truly unbearable, so I tossed some water to chase them away. I never meant to offend you or Lady Willow."

Marquita gave a perfunctory bow, her face devoid of deference. "If I have caused any offense, I humbly offer my apologies to you."

"How… how dare you speak to me like that?" Willow’s already wounded expression twisted further in distress.

Willow’s carefully restrained tears finally spilled over at Marquita’s words. Her eyes were still red from crying. "Mother and I just wanted to visit Athena. Even if she doesn’t want to see us, does she really have to stoop so low?"

Michael stared coldly into the courtyard and said in a deep voice, "Miss Monson, are you just going to hide in there and avoid facing this?"

Athena knew there was no avoiding this confrontation. Left with no choice, she opened the door and stepped out.

The moment Athena appeared, Michael’s eyes lit up, a spark of delight flashing through his gaze.

He thought, "Athena has finally come out to see me. Those words were just to provoke her. It wasn’t like I meant to give her a hard time."

Michael stepped forward and offered Athena a warm smile. "It’s Christmas Eve. It was to accompany you tonight."

As he spoke, Michael eagerly presented the two jars of plum wine to Athena, offering them like prized treasures. "You’ve always wanted me to stay up with you during Christmas Eve in the past, haven’t you? I was always too busy before… but now I finally can." Michael locked his eyes on Athena, eagerly awaiting her response.

Willow looked at Michael in utter devastation, her body swaying; she nearly lost her balance.

Willow’s gaze darted between Michael and Athena, her heart shattering as if pierced by a thousand arrows.

Willow curled her lips into a small, forced smile and murmured in agreement, "Yena. I promise I won’t be jealous of you two. If I can convince you and Michael reconcile, I’ll get along peacefully with you."

"Get along peacefully?" Athena let out a bitter, disbelieving laugh. "Are you two for real?"

The mocking glint in her eyes pierced Michael’s heart like a real blade.

Michael realized with a sinking heart that Athena no longer cared for him.

He thought, "But I’ve never once considered giving up on her. After all, the only reason I married Willow was because my family forced my hand. But I will have Athena run the family eventually!"

Michael lowered his gaze, concealing the emotions in his eyes. He continued softly, "Athena, I know you’re still upset. But tonight, all I need is a word from you. If you’re willing, I’ll do anything to get you away from Prince Xander."

Michael knew Athena disliked Xander. Otherwise, she would not have moved out of Xander Manor.

"If things didn’t work out between her and Ferris, then maybe I still have a shot," Michael thought, hope flickering in his chest. Now, all he needed was an affirmation from Athena.

Athena felt the frustration of talking to a brick wall. She glared at Michael and retorted, "Who do you think you are? Who told you I needed saving? What makes you think Prince Xander ever meant me any harm? On the contrary! Every time I was in trouble, it was Prince Xander who came to my rescue. He saved me from danger. How dare you smear his reputation like this?"

For some reason, she just couldn’t stand hearing anyone speak ill of Xander, even though she had never planned to marry him.